Hypothyroidism, allergies and intolerances

Hi Barbara, I am an RN and live in USA.  Many thyroid patients hyper or hypo  have intolernces and mal-absorption problems with food.  Allergies also are common.  Both my sister and I have Hashimoto's disease and have a very hard time digesting dairy products.  Some people can't eat wheat made products  which we now know is Celiac disease.  IBS is very common in Thyroid patients. IBS can cause loose bowels and then constipation, back and forth.   I get it also.  Some of the causes believed to be are receptor sites in the body are damaged, some of these receptor sites are in the large and small intestines. Now as we age, our bodies change and some enzymes needed for food digestion decrease and in some in causes you to ferment food and then gas is produced.  Some people get cramps and loose bowels after eating a food and other people get bloated. These days gastrointestinal problems are researched more and if diet changes don not help, they have meds for GERD.  You can also see an MD who specailizes in the stomach/intestines called a Gastroenterologist.  Some of us have trouble with meds, and being able to absorb them also. Allergies can come later in life, it is a funny thing, but you may have been able to eat a food as a kid, and then later in life, you can't.  Avoid what upsets your body, is a good rule.  At least today they make food gluten free and peanut free etc....so you are not the only one having this problem.  I hope this helps.

Hi Barbara,

I can relate to what you are going through, and I hope things are getting better for you.  I have also had some issues very similar to allergies, histimine levels as well, and thyroid levels being out of balance.

At one point my naturopath put my on some pills that helped to bring down my histimine, but before taking something like this, please be sure to get your blood work first as it may not be the problem.  I personally do not think that was the issue as I did not even finish the whole bottle.  I personally think my issues were brought on by poor diet (speaking from experience here), yo-yo dieting and at times restricting carbs, or not eating the right kind of carbs.

The one thing my naturopath has mentioned to me is that people who have hypothyroidism usually have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease brought on by people who have hypothryoidsm.  My levels of TSH and Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody hormone were off.  Hashimoto's can cause a lot of strange symptoms. The blood work for testing for Hashimoto's is: Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody and your TSH, which will generally tell you if you have Hashimoto's. My Peroxidase Antibody was the worse and very elevated.

As mentioned, certain things I have learned from my naturopath is that people who have hypothyroidism develop Hashimoto's, or generally end up developing it, especially by eating gluten.  Eating gluten makes the disease worse, so I have been advised to stay away from it.  Not saying that you do, but keep it in mind if you have never had it tested. 

Also something else I have found out recently, as I am reading a book and they state in their book that Low-carb diets are notorious for suppressing levels of T3 which is the thyroid hormone your body uses for all functions.  Extreme carb diets or carb restriction eventually drives up insulin resistance, which drives up inflammation, which drives up a host of other diseases.

I have learned this the hard way, but since I have been eating more gluten free foods and foods that are higher in fibre but on the low glycemic end of things, and limiting dairy, sugars (especially sugars), my thyroid hormones are back in balance once again and I am no longer getting those weird allergy symptoms.

Lastly I cannot remember the article, sorry, but you should be able to google and search this, but there has been some scientific study between celiac disease and those who have thyroid/hasimotos problems....interesting.

I hope this all helps....blessings. :-)

Barbara,

Sorry I made a mistake on what the book said, what I should have said was this: Low-carb diets are notorious for suppressing levels of T3, which is the thyroid hormone your body uses for all functions. 

While the thryoid hormones may indeed respond to carbs, this approach to overdoing carbs only brings destruction to the thyroid itself and in other areas of the body.  Weigh gain inevitabley happens, which drives up insulin resistance, which drives up inflammation, which drives up a host of other diseases.  Extremes are never the answer. 

Sorry, I just wanted to correct this, as I would feel bad to give misleading information.

I read this and I was led to comment.  I have been battling not only food and medicinal allergies, food sensitivities and also allergies to anything I put on my body for around 14 years now (I'm 51).  (1) I began a rotation diet.  I ate nothing within 5 days of itself.  This was difficult with all my allergies and sensitivities, but I managed it.  (2) I turned to only whole foods...nothing processed in my diet.  And, this helped, but still symptoms and allergies.  (3) Sometimes I ate very little out of fear and lost so much weight. 

Finally after my multiple allergists giving up on me and me on them, I began praying that God lead me to the answer.  I kept hearing the word Endocrine.  At the time, I didn't even know what the word endocrine meant.  So I dug a little bit. 

After finding out what my endocrine system was, I had a full panel of blood work done. 

Turns out my Vitamin D and Calcium levels were very low...I'm sure a lot in part to my limited diet now, but also my stupid dieting in my youth.  I spent/spend a lot of time in the sun, but I believe without my Calcium levels being normal, my body was not functioning properly to create the D.  Therefore, even though I am not a fan of supplements (I'd rather get all my nutrients naturally) I began taking 1,000 iu of Vitamin D3 and 1,000 mg of Calcium per day.  I just began this about 1 month ago, and I have been able to begin wearing makeup again, wash my hair with normal shampoo, drink water that hasn't been double purified, and eat foods multiple days in a row without reaction. 

I believe this is healing my body and eventually I will be able to take my focus off my diet and onto things that are more meaningful.  

I will not go back to eating processed foods because that changed had tripled my energy level.  I'd rather invest in my health than in my sickness.  I will keep you apprised of my healing.  Glory to God.